The Peabody Awards

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (HBO)

Bryant Gumbel’s long-running series could just as easily be titled Real Life. Sports is its springboard, but from its inception it has been more concerned with culture, ethics and human striving than with winning streaks or batting averages. Standout 2012 segments include “The Band Played On,” a query into the tragic death of a Florida A&M drum major during a hazing ritual that the university had tolerated for years. “Your Brain on Football” was one of several candid reports on the neurological damage to which players are allowed to expose themselves and how concussions impact their lives and ability to learn. “The Last Closet” profiled professional athletes who’ve boldly chosen to come out as gay while “Hockey’s Darkest Day” laid bare the shocking negligence that led to a 2011 plane crash that killed 40 members of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, one of Russia’s top squads. Uninhibited by league affiliations, sponsors or the blinders of fandom, unafraid to be irreverent or aggressive, Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel is what sports journalism -– for that matter, journalism, period –- should be. For this it receives a Peabody Award.